Chipotle surges after beating on earnings and announcing it's buying back more stock (CMG)

04/25/2018

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Chipotle Mexican Grill is rising after the market close. The company reported a Q1 earnings beat and announced approval to invest up to $100M for buybacks.

Same store sales grew by 2.2%, surpassing the 1.3% estimate.

The board approved additional share buybacks of up to $100 million.

Chipotle Mexican Grill shares soared more than 10% in after-hours trading Wednesday after the company beat on earnings, showed an improvement in same store sales, and announced it was allocating more money to buy back stock. This was the first quarterly report under the leadership of CEO Brian Niccol, who came over from rival Taco Bell in March.

The restaurant chain, best known for its burritos, reported an adjusted earnings of $2.13 a share, easily beating the $1.57 that analysts surveyed by Bloomberg were expecting.

The company also announced the Board approved investment up to $100 million to use for share buybacks.

For full year 2018, management forecasts 130-150 new restaurant openings and same store sales growth in the low- single digits.